34 Petition FINAL

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IN THE COURT OF Ld.

DISTRICT AND SESSIONS JUDGE,


ALWAR, RAJASTHAN
NO. OF 2017
IN THE MATTER OF:
CORPORATE ALLIANCES …. PETITIONER
VERSUS
MINDSCAPE ONE MARKETING PVT. LTD …. RESPONDENT
INDEX
S. PARTICULARS PAGE
No. NO.
1. INDEX
2. NOTICE OF MOTION
3. URGENT APPLICATION
4. COURT FEE
5. MEMO OF PARTIES
6. PETITION UNDER SECTION 34 OF THE
ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION
ACT, 1996 AGAINST THE ABITRAL
AWARD DATED MARCH 18, 2017
PASSED BY THE LD. SOLE
ARBITRATOR AT TIJARA, ALWAR,
RAJASTHAN IN THE MATTER OF
ARBITRATION BETWEEN MINDSCAPE
ONE MARKETING PVT LTD v.
CORPORATE ALLIANCES.
7. AFFIDAVIT UNDER SECTION 65B OF
THE INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT, 1872

PETITIONER
THROUGH

(DEBESH PANDA & AMRITA PANDA)


Upasana Apartments, F-6, 6th Floor,
1 Hailey Road, New Delhi – 110 001

PLACE:
DATED: .2017
IN THE COURT OF Ld. DISTRICT AND SESSIONS JUDGE,
ALWAR, RAJASTHAN
NO. OF 2017

IN THE MATTER OF:

CORPORATE ALLIANCES …. PETITIONER


VERSUS
MINDSCAPE ONE MARKETING PVT. LTD …. RESPONDENT

NOTICE OF MOTION

Sir,

The accompanying petition is being filed on behalf of the


Petitioner and is likely to be listed on ________________, or
any date, thereafter. Please take notice accordingly.

PETITIONER
THROUGH

(DEBESH PANDA & AMRITA PANDA)


Upasana Apartments, F-6, 6th Floor,
1 Hailey Road, New Delhi – 110 001

PLACE:
DATED: .2017
IN THE COURT OF Ld. DISTRICT AND SESSIONS JUDGE,
ALWAR, RAJASTHAN

NO. OF 2017

IN THE MATTER OF:

CORPORATE ALLIANCES …. PETITIONER


VERSUS
MINDSCAPE ONE MARKETING PVT. LTD …. RESPONDENT

URGENT APPLICATION

To,

The Registrar

District and Sessions Court, Alwar, Rajasthan

Sir,

Kindly treat the accompanying petition as urgent in


accordance with the rules and orders of the Hon’ble
District and Sessions Court. The grounds of urgency are as
prayed for.

PETITIONER
THROUGH

(DEBESH PANDA & AMRITA PANDA)


Upasana Apartments, F-6, 6th Floor,
1 Hailey Road, New Delhi – 110 001

PLACE:
DATED: .2017
IN THE COURT OF Ld. DISTRICT AND SESSIONS JUDGE,
ALWAR, RAJASTHAN
NO. OF 2017
IN THE MATTER OF:
CORPORATE ALLIANCES …. PETITIONER
VERSUS
MINDSCAPE ONE MARKETING PVT. LTD …. RESPONDENT
COURT FEE

PETITIONER
THROUGH

(DEBESH PANDA & AMRITA PANDA)


Upasana Apartments, F-6, 6th Floor,
1 Hailey Road, New Delhi – 110 001

PLACE:
DATED: .2017
IN THE COURT OF Ld. DISTRICT AND SESSIONS JUDGE,
ALWAR, RAJASTHAN

NO. OF 2017

MEMO OF PARTIES

CORPORATE ALLIANCES
A Partnership Firm registered with the Registrar of
Firms, Through its Authorised Representative Mr.
M.P.S. Gill,
Having its registered office at 204, Vikram Towers,
Rajinder Place, New Delhi – 110 008
….
Petitioner

VERSUS

MINDSCAPE ONE MARKETING PVT LTD.


A Company registered under the Companies Act,
1956,
Through its Authorised Representative
Having its registered office at L-37, Income Tax
Colony, Tonk Road, Jaipur – 302 018, Rajasthan
.... Respondent

PETITIONER
THROUGH

(DEBESH PANDA & AMRITA PANDA)


Upasana Apartments, F-6, 6th Floor,
1 Hailey Road, New Delhi – 110 001

PLACE:
DATED: .2017
IN THE COURT OF Ld. DISTRICT AND SESSIONS JUDGE,

ALWAR, RAJASTHAN

NO. OF 2017

IN THE MATTER OF:

CORPORATE ALLIANCES …. PETITIONER


VERSUS
MINDSCAPE ONE MARKETING PVT. LTD …. RESPONDENT

PETITION UNDER SECTION 34 OF THE ARBITRATION

AND CONCILIATION ACT, 1996 AGAINST THE

ARBITRAL AWARD DATED MARCH 18, 2017 PASSED

BY THE LD. SOLE ARBITRATOR AT TIJARA, ALWAR,

RAJASTHAN IN THE MATTER OF ARBITRATION

BETWEEN MINDSCAPE ONE MARKETING PVT LTD VS.

CORPORATE ALLIANCES

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH:

1. That Petitioner is a Partnership Firm registered with the

Registrar of Firms, Delhi, having its registered office at

204, Vikram Towers, Rajinder Place, New Delhi – 110 008

and is inter alia engaged in the business of manufacturing

and packaging of bread and other bakery items. The


present petition is being preferred by Mr. M.P.S Gill,

Partner and the Authorized Representative of the firm.

2. That Respondent is a company incorporated under the

provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, having its

registered office at L-37, Income Tax Colony, Tonk Road,

Jaipur – 302 018, Rajasthan. It is engaged inter alia in the

business of distribution, sale and marketing of bread.

3. That the Impugned Arbitral Award was passed by the Ld.

Sole Arbitrator, Mr. A.K. Raghava, ADJ (Retd.) on March 18,

2017 at Tijara, Alwar in the matter of arbitration between

Mindscape One Marketing Pvt. Ltd. v. Corporate Alliances.

Copy of the Award was received by the Petitioner on

March 24, 2017. True Copy of the Arbitral Award dated

March 18, 2017 passed by the Ld. Sole Arbitrator at Tijara,

Alwar, received on March 24, 2017 is enclosed herewith

and marked as Annexure – P/1.

4. That the Ld. Sole Arbitrator was pleased to grant the

following reliefs while passing the Impugned Arbitral

Award dated March 18, 2017, received by the Petitioner

on March 24, 2017 (hereinafter, “Impugned Award”):

A. Petitioner was directed to keep Respondent’s oven

with itself and the security deposit of Rs. 25,00,000/-

(Rupees Twenty Five lacs only) given by Petitioner to

Respondent for the oven was to be set off against the

cost of the oven.


B. Petitioner was perpetually restrained from

manufacturing bread/bakery items either for its own

or for any other business entity at the existing plaint

set up under the Agreement with the Respondent or

using the Plant for manufacturing and packaging of

breads/bakery items of a different entity, either

directly or indirectly through its directors/promoters

and/or their spouses, children and/or any other

family members, for a period of 3 years from the

date of termination of the agreement, i.e. 1 st

December, 2015. Petitioner was directed to

discontinue the said activities at the plant within a

period of 30 days form the announcement of the

award.

C. Petitioner was directed to pay Respondent damages

@ Rs. 2,000/- (Rupees Two Thousand only) per day

for the period commencing from 1st December 2015

till the actual date of discontinuation of

manufacturing of bread at the said plant.

D. Respondent was directed to pay a sum of Rs.

19,94,668/- (Rupees Nineteen Lacs Ninety Four

Thousand Six Hundred and Sixty Eight only) to the

Petitioner towards full and final settlement of dues on

account of sale/purchase of bread, raw material,

packaging material and supply of crates.


E. Respondent was directed not to refund Rs.

25,00,000/- to the Petitioner, paid to Respondent

towards consultancy charges for services rendered

by it in connection with setting up the bread plant.

F. Petitioner was held to be not entitled to damages

claimed by on account of financial loss and

harassment caused to it, to the tune of Rs.

3,00,00,000/- (Rupees Three Crores only).

G. Petitioner was directed to reimburse Respondent an

amount of Rs. 55,000/- (Rupees Fifty Five Thousand

only) as arbitration fees and expenses incurred by

Respondent.

H. Parties were required to make the aforesaid

payments within a period of 30 days from the

announcement of the award.

5. That by way of the present petition, Petitioner prays for

the following reliefs, inter alia:

A. As interim relief, stay the effect and operation of the

final Impugned Arbitral Award dated March 18, 2017

passed by the Ld. Sole Arbitrator at Tijara, Alwar in

the matter of arbitration between the parties herein

pending final disposal of this petition.

B. As final relief, set aside the final Impugned Arbitral

Award dated March 18, 2017 passed by the Ld. Sole


Arbitrator at Tijara, Alwar in the matter of arbitration

between the parties herein.

6. That the present matter pertains to Respondent’s efforts

in unjustly setting off a security deposit of Rs. 25 lacs paid

by the Petitioner against Respondent’s oven and a

perpetual injunction restraining Petitioner from using the

techniques and machinery adopted in the course of

manufacturing bread and bakery items under the

Agreement entered into by the parties. Respondent also

attempted to restrain Petitioner from undertaking

manufacturing of bread and other bakery items, their

production and distribution etc on any plant for the period

of 5 years from the date of termination of the Agreement.

7. That moreover, Respondent in its statement of claim

before the Ld. Sole Arbitrator intentionally suppressed the

mutual termination of the Agreement dated May 27, 2013

entered into by the parties, which was effected due to

Respondent’s new and unjustifiable financial projections,

just a year after the operation of the plant by the

Petitioner. The claims made by Respondent before the Ld.

Arbitrator were bad in law being directly contrary to one,

the terms of the Agreement as varied by the meeting

effecting mutual termination of the Agreement and two,

well established legal principles enshrined under Section

27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872.


8. That the Ld. Arbitrator was pleased to pass the Arbitral

Award by relying upon unproved and disputed documents,

having given Petitioner no opportunity to examine

Respondent’s witnesses. The Impugned Award was further

passed without considering material documents which

prima facie render the findings of the award

unsustainable. The Impugned Award is directly contrary to

the terms of the Agreement, fails to recognize

Respondent’s consent in materially altering the terms of

the Agreement and is in direct contravention of statutory

law as recognized by the courts of the country.

9. That in the month of February 2013, Petitioner was

approached by Respondent for the manufacture and

packaging of bread and other bakery items in Delhi NCR.

Respondent was desirous of creating a new market for

breads and wanted to appoint a manufacturer having

sufficient expertise, infrastructure and resources to set-up,

operate and manage manufacturing plants/units for the

manufacture and packaging of bread.

10. That pursuant to the above, Petitioner and Respondent

entered into a Manufacturing Agreement dated May 27,

2013 [hereinafter, “Agreement”] in pursuance of which,

Petitioner purchased a plot bearing no. 379, Bani

Industrial Area, Sonepat for setting up a plant having the

capacity to manufacture and produce 90 (ninety) bags of


bread in a single shift. In hindsight, at the time of the

execution of the Agreement, Respondent and its officials

made several misleading and deceptive promises

regarding the return on investment in the said project in

order to allure Petitioner. On the basis of such

representations and financial projections, Petitioner was

induced to make a huge investment of Rs. 5,00,00,000/-

(Rupees Five Crores only) approximately in purchasing the

said plot and plant.

11. That the said purchase was made independently by

Petitioner without the cooperation of Respondent but

however, to the latter’s satisfaction in accordance with

the terms of the Agreement. Such representations and

projections, as it now transpires, were completely false,

misleading and were made with the deliberate dishonest

intention to cheat and defraud Petitioner. Moreover,

Petitioner was driven to incur an expenditure of Rs.

25,00,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Lacs only) as consultancy

fees to Respondent.

True copy of Manufacturing Agreement dated May 27,

2013 entered into between Petitioner and Respondent is

herewith enclosed and marked as Annexure – P/2.

12. That despite Petitioner possessing the requisite

equipment and machinery to manufacture bread in


accordance with Article 6 of the Agreement, it reluctantly

agreed to employ Respondent’s baking oven [hereinafter,

“Oven”] by incurring a security deposit of Rs. 25,00,000/-

(Rupees Twenty Five Lacs only), primarily at the relentless

insistence of Respondent.

13. That the plant was set up within nine months from the

date of the Agreement and operations commenced on or

about May 08, 2014. This was done without the co-

operation and/or information provided by Respondent with

respect to management advice, services, specific

knowledge, technical and non-technical knowledge as

regards bakery, information, plot and layout, activities,

specification of equipments and standards, design

specifications of the machine, information of the seller

and specification with regard to the purchasing of

equipments. Petitioner unilaterally set up the plant but to

the satisfaction of Respondent by adhering to the

standards laid down in the Agreement. However, to

Petitioner’s utter shock and surprise, Respondent after a

year unilaterally came up with new financial projections

which drastically reduced supply and began to pressurize

Petitioner into accepting the same. These projections/rate

enhancements had the ability to severely affect

Petitioner’s financial stability, investment and the overall


scheme of the Agreement, which was intimated to

Respondent vide e-mail dated June 17, 2015.

True copy of Petitioner’s e-mail dated June 17, 2015 is

herewith enclosed and marked as Annexure – P/3.

14. That having received no satisfactory response from

Respondent, and in an attempt to reach an amicable

consensus, Petitioner vide e-mail dated October 20, 2015

intimated Respondent that it was willing to assure a

minimum production of 70 bags/day subject to

Respondent guaranteeing the same, including a monthly

review of rates. In spite of these reasonable conditions,

which would have helped counter the increased per unit

cost in view of reduced supply, Respondent vide e-mail

dated October 21, 2015 refused to re-consider and alter

its financial projections. This drastically affected

Petitioner’s financial stability.

True copy of Petitioner’s e-mail dated October 20, 2015

and Respondent’s e-mail dated October 21, 2015 is

herewith enclosed and marked as Annexure – P/4

(Colly).

15. That in order to save business relations and amicably

resolve the dispute at hand, a meeting was held on

November 02, 2015 (hereinafter, “Minutes of Meeting”)

between the officials of parties wherein it was inter alia

mutually decided and agreed that,


“…1. Letter of termination will be given by be given

by CA to MOM w.e.f. 20th of Nov’15 with +/- 5 days.

The date has been mutually agreed between CA and

MOM. Letter to be given latest by 04.11.2015. MOM

will convey its acceptance within one week of receipt

of letter from CA.

2. All poly stocks and improvers, if any remaining

balance with CA will be handed over to HG after last

date of production and invoice for the same will be

raised by CA to HG.

3. Poly and improver, if any, required before last day

of production by CA will be sold from HG.

4. All accounts between CA and HG & CA & MOM till

the date of last transaction will be settled within 30

days of submission of invoices by each other.

5. MOM will hold with itself last 7 days, immediately

before the last date of production, payment for bread

purchase and the same will be released on full and

final settlement of accounts.

6. Security deposit by CA to MOM against Oven will be

refunded to CA before physically shifting of Oven

which will be done within 20 days immediately after

last date of production.


7. All pending C-Forms will be given to MOM/HG to by

CA immediately on receipt from sales tax department.

CA will try to expedite this.”

True copy of Minutes of Meeting dated November 02, 2015

is herewith enclosed and marked as Annexure – P/5.

16. That this meeting had the effect of materially altering the

substantive terms of the Agreement, including the rights

and obligations of each party accruing from the

Agreement. The parties had willingly undertaken new

obligations, which were final and binding. The Agreement

therefore stood altered to the extent specified by the

minutes of the meeting. Pertinently, Respondent

intentionally withheld these Minutes of Meeting before the

Ld. Arbitrator despite having signed and acknowledged

the same through its authorized representatives.

17. That pursuant thereto, Petitioner vide e-mail dated

November 03, 2015 terminated the Agreement, to which

Respondent reverted vide e-mail dated November 10,

2015 stating that “…it acknowledge the receipt of your

letter of termination and also convey our accepted

towards termination of Agreement...”. It further went on

to state that “…it was decided in our meeting that you will

continue to manufacture till 20.11.15 (+/- 5 days). Hence,

the exact date of discontinuation of manufacturing will be


decided mutually and communicated to each other

accordingly. The settlement of accounts will also be made

in terms of the Agreement read with the minutes of

meeting held on 2.11.2015…”. It was therefore evident

that Respondent, by its very conduct accepted the terms

of the Minutes of the Meeting as forming part and parcel

of the Agreement and also the consequential variation of

the Agreement to the extent of its inconsistency with the

terms of the Minutes of the Meeting.

True copy of Petitioner’s e-mail dated November 03, 2015

and Respondent’s e-mail dated November 10, 2015 is

herewith enclosed and marked as Annexure – P/6

(Colly).

18. That pursuant to such mutual termination of the

Agreement, the parties agreed to November 30, 2015

being the last date of production, evident from Petitioner’s

similar dated email. This implied that Respondent was

obligated to physically shift and remove its Oven from

Petitioner’s premises within 20 days from November 30,

2015 i.e., latest by December 20, 2015. This further

implied that Respondent was obligated to first, refund

Petitioner’s security deposit prior to the date of such

removal and second, clear all of Petitioner’s outstanding

dues and invoices before November 30, 2015, which at


the time amounted to 24,33,000/- (Rupees Twenty Four

Lacs Thirty Three Thousand only).

True copy of Petitioner’s e-mail dated November 30, 2015

is herewith enclosed and marked as Annexure – P/7.

19. That thereafter, Petitioner on several occasions intimated

Respondent to initiate and complete the physical removal

of the Oven from its premises, evident from its e-mails

dated December 07, 2015, December 16, 2015 and

December 18, 2015, which ultimately fell on deaf ears.

Considering the financial impact of each day’s non-

removal, Petitioner was compelled to deploy 20 of its

workers to physically remove the Oven with utmost

precaution and care. Surprisingly, it was only post

December 18, 2015 that Respondent sent a meager three

workers to undertake the removal process. In fact, the

approach adopted by the workers was extremely

lackadaisical to the extent that they took an off from work

on December 24, 2015 and December 26, 2015 without

prior intimation to the Petitioner. This is in addition to the

public holiday on December 25, 2015, which was

conveyed to the Respondent, vide e-mail dated December

26, 2015.

True copy of Petitioner’s e-mails dated December 07,

2015, December 16, 2015, December 18, 2015 and


December 26, 2015 is herewith enclosed and marked as

Annexure – P/8 (Colly).

20. That Petitioner thereafter again intimated Respondent

vide e-mail dated December 28, 2015 that in view of its

non-cooperation in the removal process, Petitioner was

compelled to undertake the same, which took

approximately 20 days.

True copy of Petitioner’s e-mail dated December 28, 2015

is herewith enclosed and marked as Annexure – P/9.

21. That with no response forthcoming from the Respondent,

Petitioner once again vide e-mail dated December 31,

2015 requested it to collect the Oven from its factory

premises and refund the security deposit. It is pertinent to

note that Respondent did not revert to any

correspondence made by Petitioner in the month of

November (end) – December 2015. In fact, any

correspondence alleged to have been made by

Respondent, for instance the alleged mail of December

03, 2015 is nothing but an attempt to beat around the

bush and slyly dishonour its obligations arising out of the

terms of the Minutes of the Meeting. In fact, the said e-

mail by Respondent is contrary to the e-mails’ sent by

Petitioner to Respondent prior to and on December 7,

2015 intimating the latter’s responsibility to swiftly and

timely remove the Oven.


True copy of Petitioner’s e-mail dated December 31, 2015

and Respondent’s e-mail dated December 03, 2015 is

herewith enclosed and marked as Annexure – P/10

(Colly).

22. That abruptly and out of the blue on December 31, 2015

Respondent sent an e-mail to the Petitioner intimating

alleged unprofessional removal of the Oven without prior

intimation to Respondent, restraining Respondent’s team

from carrying out the removal process, enforcing its right

of three months for removal as provided for under the

Agreement (which was negated by the newly agreed

timeline of 20 days in the Minutes of the Meeting) and

further claimed damages that it would set off against the

security amount deposited by Petitioner. So much so that

Respondent, once again vide letter-dated January 19,

2016 threatened to set off the alleged damages to the

Oven against the security amount in its possession.

True copy of Respondent’s e-mail dated December 31,

2015 and January 19, 2016 is herewith enclosed and

marked as Annexure – P/11 (Colly).

23. That resultantly, Petitioner was constrained to invoke the

arbitration clause of the Agreement vide letter dated

March 02, 2016 and requested Respondent to appoint an

arbitrator for settling the disputes arising out of the


Agreement read with the terms of the Minutes of the

Meeting.

True copy of Petitioner’s letter dated March 02, 2016

invoking the arbitration clause of the Agreement is

herewith enclosed and marked as Annexure – P/12.

24. That Respondent reverted vide letter dated March 10,

2016 confirming the appointment of Mr. A.K. Raghava, ADJ

(Retd.) as the Sole Arbitrator in the matter of arbitration

between the parties herein, in accordance with Article 17

of the Agreement. On the same day, Petitioner, without

prejudice to its rights, issued a letter calling upon

Respondent to make payment in good faith in respect of

invoices due by it to Petitioner.

True copy of Respondent and Petitioner’s letters dated

March 10, 2016 is herewith enclosed and marked as

Annexure – P/13 (Colly).

25. That on April 2, 2016 Petitioner received a letter from the

Ld. Sole Arbitrator intimating his reference in the matter

and directed Respondent to file its Statement of Claim.

That in-between, Respondent filed an application bearing

no. Civil Application No. 75 / 2016 under Section 9 of the

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 before the Hon’ble

District and Session Judge, Alwar (Rajasthan) praying for a

temporary injunction under Order 39 of the Code of Civil

Procedure, 1908 restraining Petitioner, his legal heirs,


children or any other member of the family from using the

techniques, machinery and oven of Respondent in

manufacturing, producing and distributing bread and

other bakery items under their own or Respondent’s mark.

The Hon’ble Court was however, pleased to dismiss

Respondent’s application vide order dated June 03, 2016.

True typed copy of order dated June 03, 2016 passed by

the Hon’ble District and Sessions Judge in Civil Application

No. 75 / 2016 is herewith enclosed and marked as

Annexure – P/14.

26. That Respondent filed its Statement of Claim on April 26,

2016, which came to be received by the Petitioner on May

14, 2016. Subsequently, Petitioner filed its Written

Statement and Counterclaim before the Ld. Arbitrator on

June 01, 2016 to which, the Respondent filed its Rejoinder

on August 19, 2016 before the Ld. Arbitrator, which was

received by the Petitioner on the same day.

True copy of Respondent’s Statement of Claim filed before

the Ld. Arbitrator on 26.04.2016, Petitioner’s Written

Statement and Counterclaim filed before the Ld. Arbitrator

on 01.06.2016 and Respondent’s Rejoinder filed before

the Ld. Arbitrator on 19.09.2016 is herewith enclosed and

marked as Annexure – P/15 (Colly).

27. That on August 19, 2016 Petitioner filed an application

before the Ld. Arbitrator for a change in venue of the


arbitration to New Delhi, which would have been

convenient for both the parties and the Ld. Arbitrator on

account of all residing within Delhi NCR. Respondent

objected to the same without any basis and with the sole

intent to harass Petitioner by compelling it to travel an

unnecessary distance in order to participate in the

hearing. The said application came to be arbitrarily

dismissed by the Ld. Arbitrator without considering the

legal distinction between ‘venue’ and ‘seat’ of arbitration.

In fact, it was only when Petitioner received a copy of the

minutes of the meeting of the arbitral proceedings along

with the Impugned Award did it find that the Ld. Arbitrator

has incorrectly applied the law held by the Hon’ble

Supreme Court of India in Enercon (India) Ltd. v. Enercon

GMBH & Anr., (2014) 5 SCC 1 while summarily dismissing

the application.

28. That moreover, five months after having entered

reference in the matter, it was noticed by Petitioner that

the Ld. Arbitrator had failed to issue its notice of

disclosure of neutrality, independence and impartiality in

accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act,

1996. Resultantly, Petitioner was compelled to issue a

letter dated September 05, 2016 to the Ld. Arbitrator

requesting him to comply with the said statutory

requirement. A reminder was thereafter again sent on


September 16, 2016 to the Ld. Arbitrator reiterating the

above request.

True copy of Petitioner’s letters dated September 05, 2016

and September 16, 2016 issued to the Ld. Arbitrator and

Petitioner's application for change of venue dated

19.8.2016 and Respondent's objection to change in venue

dated 06.09.2016 is herewith enclosed and marked as

Annexure – P/16 (Colly).

29. That it was only on September 17, 2016 that Petitioner

received the Ld. Arbitrator’s disclosure statement, which

was styled more as a favour than compliance with a

statutory mandate. Interestingly, the letter read, “…

Claimant was informed that Arbitrator has received a

letter from the counsel of Respondent on 16-09-2016

indicating their inability to participate in arbitral

proceedings unless disclosure of independence is made

by arbitrator. Though such disclosure is required only

when arbitrator has any relationship with or interest in

any of the parties or in relation to the subject matter in

dispute, it is desirable to make disclosure on the request

of respondent...”. Pertinently, even the disclosure

statement clearly revealed that the Ld. Arbitrator had no

prior experience in conducting any arbitration.


True copy of letter dated September 17, 2016 received by

the Ld. Arbitrator is herewith enclosed and marked as

Annexure – P/17.

30. That on December 17, 2016 Petitioner through counsel

requested the Ld. Arbitrator to frame the procedure for

conducting the arbitration, in accordance with Section 19

of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 in the

absence of the Arbitration Agreement failing to provide so.

Petitioner’s request having been rejected at the hearing

on December 17, 2016, Petitioner suggested that the Ld.

Arbitrator be pleased to frame issues in the matter and

permit parties to file their respective evidence by way of

an Affidavit. Shockingly, the Ld. Arbitrator was pleased to

dismiss the request for framing of issues and filing of

evidence. Only after much persuasion on part of the

Petitioner was the Ld. Arbitrator pleased to grant only a

weeks’ time to file the evidence. This was strongly

objected to by the Petitioner on grounds that a minimum

of four weeks would be required, however, to no avail. The

Ld. Arbitrator relentlessly agreed to grant Petitioner extra

time as and when requested, but did not include the same

as part of the minutes of the arbitral proceedings.

31. That on January 30, 2017 Petitioner attempted to file a

copy of its Evidence by way of an Affidavit before the Ld.

Arbitrator at his residence. However, while doing so


Petitioner Company’s Account Manager, Mr. Pankaj Jha,

who had visited the Ld. Arbitrator’s residence at 1-A, Civil

Lines, Gurgaon – 122 001 was verbally abused and

assaulted by the Ld. Arbitrator, before throwing him off his

residential property. Petitioner immediately communicated

the disgraceful incident to the Ld. Arbitrator vide letter

dated February 02, 2017 whereby additionally, the delay

in filing the affidavit was also reiterated as mentioned in

the application for condonation of delay attached along

with the affidavit of evidence.

True copy of Petitioner's Evidence by way of Affidavit

dated January 27, 2017 and letter dated February 02,

2017 addressed to the Ld. Arbitrator is herewith enclosed

and marked as Annexure – P/18 (Colly).

32. That moreover, Petitioner therein also conveyed that the

Ld. Arbitrator’s letter dated January 28, 2017, which was

actually sent by post on January 30, 2017 and received by

the Petitioner on February 01, 2017 failed to record any

detail pertaining to the aforementioned disgraceful

incident that took place at his residence.

True copy of the Ld. Arbitrator’s letter dated January 28,

2017 along with postal receipt is herewith enclosed and

marked as Annexure – P/19.


33. That pertinently, throughout the course of the

proceedings, not once did the Ld. Arbitrator fix a date for

hearing oral evidence of the parties in respect of the

documents and written evidence filed. As a result, no

opportunity was ever given to the Petitioner to examine

Respondent’s documents and witnesses.

True copy of order sheets dated June 24, 2016, October

15, 2016, December 01, 2016, February 06, 2017 and

February 18, 2017 is herewith enclosed and marked as

Annexure – P/20 (Colly).

34. That perturbed by the conduct of the Ld. Arbitrator,

Petitioner was constrained to file written arguments by

way of abundant caution on February 25, 2017 before the

Ld. Arbitrator by way of service by hand at his residence.

However, the Ld. Arbitrator refused to acknowledge the

same in writing and thereby, unprofessionally recorded

receipt of the same only on March 10, 2017 as part of the

minutes of the proceedings.

True copy of the Petitioner’s written arguments dated

February 25, 2017 is herewith enclosed and marked as

Annexure – P/21.

35. That it is pertinent to note that Petitioner never received

the minutes of the arbitral proceedings from the Ld.

Arbitrator, but only a summary of its orders.


36. That on March 18, 2017 the Ld. Arbitrator was pleased to

pass the final Impugned Arbitral Award, which has been

challenged by the Petitioner herein on inter alia the

following grounds, however before which, it would be

relevant to mention that on June 09, 2017 Petitioner learnt

via a news report about the registration of an F.I.R. against

the Ld. Arbitrator at Civil Lines P.S. Gurugram under

Section 332/353//307 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 read

with Section 25/54/59 of the Arms Act, 1959 for having

opened fire at workers fixing a power source near his

home, for which he has been sent to judicial custody. True

copy of the news report dated 09.06.2017 is enclosed

herewith and marked as Annexure P-21.


GROUNDS

I. FOR THAT, the present matter deserves interference by

this Hon’ble Court on account of the unbalanced and

irrational conduct of the Ld. Arbitrator in conducting the

arbitration proceedings in haste and instilling the

apprehension of danger in the Petitioner, as is evident by

the Petitioner’s letter dated February 02, 2017 and

amplified by the F.I.R. registered against the Ld. Arbitrator

as reported in the news report dated June 09, 2017;

II. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is unsustainable in law

inasmuch as the Ld. Arbitrator failed to provide Petitioner

a reasonable opportunity to disprove Respondent’s claim

by examining its documents, evidence and witnesses, as

held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Sohan Lal

Gupta (Dead) thr. Lrs. & Ors. v. Smt. Asha Devi Gupta &

Ors., (2003) 7 SCC 492;

III. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is unsustainable in law

inasmuch as the Ld. Arbitrator cannot disregard the basic

rules of evidence that are founded on the fundamental

principles of justice and public policy, as held by the

Hon’ble High Court of Bombay in Jagmohan Singh Gujral v.

Satish Ashok Sabnis & Anr., 2004 (1) ARBLR 212 (Bom);

IV. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is unsustainable in law

inasmuch as the Ld. Arbitrator failed to consider that


documents per se merely assert but do not prove a claim

unless they are admitted by the party against whom they

are tendered, for which they must be subject to oral

evidence and examination, as held by the Hon’ble High

Court of Calcutta in State of West Bengal & Ors. v.

Chittadas Roy, (1998) 2 CalLT 420 (HC);

V. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is unsustainable in law

inasmuch the Ld. Arbitrator passed the award by relying

upon unproved and disputed documents as evidence and

thereby, acted contrary to the principles of natural justice,

as held by the Hon’ble High Court of Bombay in The Board

of Trustees of the Port of Mumbai v. Afcons Infrastructure

Limited, Arbitration Petition No. 868 of 2012;

VI. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is unsustainable in law

inasmuch the blatant disregard of the fundamental rules

of evidence by the Ld. Arbitrator is a patent illegality that

goes to the root of the matter, which is a independent

ground for setting aside an arbitral award as held by the

Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in McDermott

International Inc. v. Burn Standard Co. Ltd., (2006) 11 SCC

181;

VII. FOR THAT, the Ld. Arbitrator erred in law in failing to

consider that the only mode by which a contract can be

amended / substituted is by the same process by which it

was created, i.e. mutual agreement, as held by the


Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Union of India v.

Kishorilal Gupta & Bros., AIR 1959 SC 1362;

VIII. FOR THAT, the Ld. Arbitrator failed to consider that parties

agreed to a mutual settlement of all their disputes by

accord and satisfaction as per the arrangement

formulated in the meeting held on November 02, 2015, as

held by the Hon’ble Privy Council in Payana Reena

Saminathan v. Pana Lana Palaniappa, 18 CWN 617;

IX. FOR THAT, alternatively, the Ld. Arbitrator failed to

consider that the terms of the Minutes of Meeting dated

November 02, 2015 became part of the original

agreement by varying it to the extent specified, and the

original Agreement stood superseded to the extent of its

inconsistency with the Minutes of Meeting, as held by the

Hon’ble High Court of Calcutta in Juggilal Kamlapat v. N.V.

Internationale Crediet-En-Handels Vereeninging

‘Rotterdam’, AIR 1955 Cal 65, approved by the Hon’ble

High Court of Allahabad in National Highways Authority of

India v. Shiva Tractors, 2016 (1) ARBLR 338 (All);

X. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is unsustainable in law

inasmuch as the Ld. Arbitrator prima facie failed to

consider material documents while passing the Impugned

Award, which throw abundant light on the controversy,

such as inter alia the Minutes of Meeting dated

02.11.2015, Petitioner’s letter dated 17.06.2015, letters


dated 03.11.2015, 10.11.2015, 30.11.2015 and

26.12.2015, as held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of

India in K.P. Poulose v. State of Kerela & Anr., (1975) 2 SCC

236;

XI. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is unsustainable in law

inasmuch as the Ld. Arbitrator failed to consider that

Respondent by its very conduct and correspondence

accepted the validity and legitimacy of the Minutes of

Meeting and its subsequent incorporation as part of the

original Agreement by varying it to the extent specified in

the minutes, as held by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi in

BWL Ltd. v. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. & Anr., 2007

(4) ARBLR 398 (Delhi);

XII. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is unsustainable in law

inasmuch as the parties were at ad-idem while agreeing to

the terms of the Minutes of the Meeting dated November

02, 2015 and Respondent is precluded from having

recourse to the terms of the original Agreement to the

extent they are inconsistent with the minutes;

XIII. FOR THAT, in terms of the judgement of the Hon’ble

Supreme Court of India in Cochin Shipyard Ltd. v. Apeejay

Shipping Ltd., (2015) 15 SCC 522 the Impugned Award is

unsustainable in law inasmuch it was passed by the Ld.

Arbitrator upon reaching an inconsistent conclusion on his


own finding, being “…what the Claimant has agreed to is

only the effective date of termination…”;

XIV. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is directly contrary to the

judgment of the Hon’ble District and Session Judge, Alwar

(Rajasthan) in Civil Application No. 75/2016 passed while

considering an application filed by the Respondent under

Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 on

the same set of facts;

XV. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is unsustainable in law

inasmuch as Respondent never discharged the burden of

disproving Article 12 of the Agreement as constituting

restraint of trade under Section 27 of the Indian Contract

Act, 1872, as held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India

in Niranjan Shankar Golikari v. The Century Spinning and

Mfg. Co. Ltd., AIR 1967 SC 1098;

XVI. FOR THAT, the burden of proof thrust upon Respondent in

respect of Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872

could not have been discharged suo motu by the Ld.

Arbitrator;

XVII. FOR THAT, the Ld. Arbitrator has failed to consider that

Petitioner was engaged in the manufacturing of bread and

other bakery items prior to entering into an Agreement

with Respondent, and would continue to enter into

agreements with third parties, as acknowledged by Article

12.3 of the Agreement;


XVIII. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is unsustainable in law

inasmuch as the Ld. Arbitrator failed to consider that it

was incumbent upon it to only consider if the Agreement

was or not in restraint of trade under Section 27 of the

Indian Contract Act, 1872 and without going into the

reasonability of such restraint, as held by the Hon’ble

Supreme Court of India in Gujarat Bottling Co. Ltd. & Ors.

v. Coca Cola Co. & Ors., (1995) 5 SCC 545;

XIX. FOR THAT, even so, the Impugned Award is unsustainable

in law inasmuch as the Ld. Arbitrator failed to consider

that pursuant to the mutual termination of the Agreement

upon Respondent’s unwillingness to comply with

contractual terms, the restraint of trade imposed under

Article 12.4 of the Agreement was beyond the scope of

reasonability, as held by this Hon’ble Court in Hukmi

Chand v. Jaipur Ice & Oil Mills Co. & Ors., AIR 1980 Raj

155;

XX. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is unsustainable in law

inasmuch as the restraint of trade imposed under Article

12.4 of the Agreement is without any reasonable basis

inasmuch as it completely prevents Petitioner from

continuing a profitable business and is also not covered by

the Exception to Article 27 of the Indian Contract Act,

1872;
XXI. FOR THAT, it was incumbent upon the Ld. Arbitrator to file

his statement disclosing independence and neutrality in

the matter immediately upon entering reference in the

proceedings as mandated by the Arbitration and

Conciliation Act, 1996;

XXII. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award deserves to be set aside

for reason that the Ld. Arbitrator filed his statement of

disclosure of independence and neutrality only upon the

insistence of the Petitioner and not voluntarily, which

indicates apparent bias on his part;

XXIII. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is contrary to substantive

provisions of Indian law, as held by the Hon’ble Supreme

Court of India in D.D.A. v. R.S. Sharma & Co., (2008) 13

SCC 80;

XXIV. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is unsustainable in law

inasmuch as the Ld. Arbitrator has disregarded and gone

beyond the express law of contract, as held by the

Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Centrotrade Minerals &

Metals Inc. v. Hindustan Copper Ltd., (2006) 11 SCC 245;

XXV. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is against the

fundamental policy of Indian Law, as held by the Hon’ble

Supreme Court in Associate Builders v. Delhi Development

Authority, (2015) 3 SCC 49;

GROUNDS FOR INTERIM RELIEF


I. FOR THAT, the Petitioner has an excellent prima facie case

and the balance of convenience lies in favour of the

Petitioner and against Respondent;

II. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is prima facie illegal and

arbitrary;

III. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award has the effect of severely

hampering the business of the Petitioner without any legal

basis;

IV. FOR THAT, the Ld. Arbitrator has failed to consider

material documents placed by the Petitioner which render

the findings of the Impugned Award arbitrary;

V. FOR THAT, the Ld. Arbitrator has reached an inconsistent

solution on his own findings and thereby caused grave

prejudice to the Petitioner;

VI. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award has been passed on the

basis of unproved and disputed documents, which have

never been subjected to oral evidence and examination;

VII. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award is against the very

fundamentals of Indian policy and law;

VIII. FOR THAT, the Impugned Award deserves to be stayed

pending final disposal of this petition, as held by the

Hon’ble High Court of Bombay in Atlanta Limited v.

Executive Engineer, Arbitration Petition No. 761 of 2014:

(2014) SCCOnline Bom 772 and HRIM Finance and


Securities Pvt. Ltd. v. Globe Capital Market Ltd., Arbitration

Petitioner (L) No. 89 of 2016;

INTERIM PRAYER

In view of the facts and circumstances stated above,

Petitioner most respectfully prays that this Hon’ble Court

may be pleased to:

A. Stay the effect and operation of the final Impugned

Arbitral Award dated March 18, 2017 passed by the Ld.

Sole Arbitrator at Tijara in the matter of arbitration

between the parties herein pending final disposal of the

present petition; and

B. Pass any such further order or direction that this Hon’ble

Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and

circumstances of the present case.

PRAYER

In view of the facts and circumstances stated above,

Petitioner most respectfully prays that this Hon’ble Court

may be pleased to:

A. Set aside the Arbitral Award dated March 18, 2017 passed

by the Ld. Sole Arbitrator at Tijara, Alwar in the matter of


arbitration between Mindscape One Marketing Pvt. Ltd. v.

Corporate Alliances; and

B. Pass any such further order or direction that this Hon’ble

Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and

circumstances of the present case.

PETITIONER

THROUGH

(DEBESH PANDA & AMRITA PANDA)


Upasana Apartments, F-6, 6th Floor,
1 Hailey Road, New Delhi – 110 001

PLACE:
DATED: .2017
IN THE COURT OF Ld. DISTRICT AND SESSIONS JUDGE,

ALWAR, RAJASTHAN

NO. OF 2017

IN THE MATTER OF:

CORPORATE ALLIANCES … PETITIONER

VERSUS

MINDSCAPE ONE MARKETING PVT. LTD … RESPONDENT

AFFIDVIT

I, Manvinder Pal Singh Gill, S/o B. S. Gill aged about 49

years, R/o M-203, GHN, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi – 110

087, presently working as Partner of M/s Corporate

Alliances having its registered office at 204, Vikram

Towers, Rajinder Place, New Delhi – 110 008, the

Petitioner Firm herein, do hereby solemnly affirm and

state as under:

1.That I am a Partner and authorised representative of the

Petitioner Firm and am fully conversant with the facts and

circumstances of the case and as such, competent and

duly authorised to swear and affirm this affidavit, having

perused the records maintained at the office of the

Petitioner Firm.
2.That I have read and understood the contents of the

accompanying petition and affirm its contents to be true

to my best of my knowledge based upon the official

records maintained at the office of the Petitioner Firm.

3.That I affirm that there has been no false statement or

concealment of any material fact, document or record

and I have included information that, according to me, is

relevant for the petition.

DEPONENT

VERIFICATION

I, Manvinder Pal Singh Gill, S/o B. S. Gill aged about 49

years, R/o M-203, GHN, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi – 110

087, presently working as Partner of M/s Corporate

Alliances having its registered office at 204, Vikram

Towers, Rajinder Place, New Delhi – 110 008, the

Petitioner firm do hereby verify at New Delhi on the ______

day of ________, 2017 that the statements made above are

true to the best of my knowledge, except for information

as obtained from records, the legal submission believed

by me to be true.

DEPONENT
IN THE COURT OF Ld. DISTRICT AND SESSIONS JUDGE,

ALWAR, RAJASTHAN

NO. OF 2017

IN THE MATTER OF:

CORPORATE ALLIANCES … PETITIONER

VERSUS

MINDSCAPE ONE MARKETING PVT. LTD … RESPONDENT

AFFIDAVIT UNDER SECTION 65B OF THE INDIAN

EVIDENCE ACT, 1872

I, Manvinder Pal Singh Gill, S/o B. S. Gill aged about 49

years, R/o M-203, GHN, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi – 110

087, presently working as Partner of M/s Corporate

Alliances having its registered office at 204, Vikram

Towers, Rajinder Place, New Delhi – 110 008, the

Petitioner Firm herein, do hereby solemnly affirm and

state as under:

1. That I am a Partner and authorised representative of the

Petitioner Firm, having its registered office at 204, Vikram

Towers, Rajinder Place, New Delhi – 110 008.

2. That the accompanying petition under Section 34 of the

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 has been preferred

by the Petitioner against the final Impugned Arbitral

Award passed by the Ld. Sole Arbitrator, Mr. A.K. Raghava,


ADJ (Retd.) on March 18, 2017 in the matter of arbitration

between the parties herein.

3. That as Partner of the Petitioner Firm, I was directly

involved in all correspondence with the Respondent

Company. The e-mails annexed to the accompanying

petition were either sent by me on behalf of the Petitioner

Firm or received by me from the Respondent Company

and my name appears on the e-mail correspondence.

4. That being the Partner of the Petitioner Firm, I am

authorized to use its computer terminals. The terminals

used by me are functioning normally at all times. I have

used the computer terminal having _____ make _______

model to print the emails and softcopy of documents

annexed herein. The said computer is used to feed,

process, and store the information and to communicate

through internet and for other allied activities.

5. That I hereby produce the hard copies of the e-mails,

which are annexed hereto as Annexures “P/3, P/4

(Colly), P/6 (Colly), P/7, P/8 (Colly), P/9, P/10 (Colly)

and P/11 (Colly)”. I crave leave to refer to and rely upon

the clear copies of the same at the time of the hearing.

6. That I confirm that the contents of the hard copies of the

e-mails are identical to the e-mails exchanged through the

computer terminals operated by me.


7. That accordingly, I am making the present affidavit to

certify that the hard copies of the e-mails annexed as

Annexures “P/3, P/4 (Colly), P/6 (Colly), P/7, P/8

(Colly), P/9, P/10 (Colly) and P/11 (Colly)” hereto are

true copies of the electronic record which was regularly

fed into / transmitted through my computer terminal at

Petitioner Firm’s office in the ordinary course of activities. I

further state that at all times, the computer terminal

utilized by me was operating properly and there is no

distortion in the accuracy of the contents of the hard

copies of the e-mails. These annexures were derived /

produced from the said computer during which period that

computer was regularly used to store and process the

information for purpose of records. I further identify and

certify that the said electronic record/documents are

accessed through the said computer using my e-mail

(inbox) access and printed using a printer attached to the

said computer ordinarily used for the production of said

electronic records/documents.

DEPONENT

VERIFICATION

I, the deponent above named do hereby solemnly affirm

and verify that what is stated in the foregoing affidavit is

true to the best of my information based on the records of


the case and the legal submission therein are believed to

be true in terms of the legal advice received.

Verified at on the day of , 2017.

DEPONENT

VAKALATNAMA

IN THE COURT OF Ld. DISTRICT AND SESSIONS JUDGE,

ALWAR, RAJASTHAN

NO. OF 2017

IN THE MATTER OF:

CORPORATE ALLIANCES … PETITIONER

VERSUS

MINDSCAPE ONE MARKETING PVT. LTD … RESPONDENT

Know all men by these present that by this Vakalatnama I,


Manvinder Pal Singh Gill, the above named PETITIONER
in the aforesaid petition do hereby appoint and retain:

DEBESH PANDA / AMRITA PANDA / NEIL CHATTERJEE


ADVOCATES
F-6, Upasana Apartments, 1 Hailey Road, New Delhi – 110
001
Ph: +91 11 41648787, +91 9873547805
Advocate (s), to appear for me/us, in the above case and
conduct and prosecute (or defend) the same and all
proceedings that may be taken in respect of any
application connected with the same, or any decree or
order passed therein including all applications for return of
documents or receipt of any money that may be payable
to me/us in the said case and also in applications for
review, appeals that may arise; to admit any compromise
lawfully in the said case; to sign, file verify and present
pleadings, appeals cross-objections or petitions for
execution review, revision, withdrawal, compromise or
other petitions or affidavits or other documents as may be
deemed necessary or proper for the prosecution of the
said case in all its stages; to file and take back documents
to admit and/or deny the documents of the opposite
part(ies); to withdraw or compromise the said case or
submit to arbitration any differences or disputes that may
arise touching or in any manner relating to the said case;
to take execution proceedings; to deposit, draw and
receive money, cheques, cash and grant receipts hereof
and to do all other acts and things which may be
necessary to be done for the progress and in the course of
the prosecution of the said case; to appoint, and instruct
any other Legal Practitioner, authorising him to exercise
the power and authority hereby conferred upon them,
whenever they may think fit to do so and to sign the
Power of Attorney on our behalf. And I/we the undersigned
do hereby agree to ratify and confirm all acts done by the
Advocate or his substitute in the matter as my/our acts, as
if done by me/us to all intents and purposes. And I/we
undertake that I/we or my/our duly authorised agent
would appear in the Court on all hearings and will inform
the Advocate for appearance when the case is called. And
I/we undersigned do hereby agree not to hold the
advocate or his substitute responsible for the result of the
said case. The adjournment costs whenever ordered by
the Court shall be of the Advocate which he shall receive
and retain himself. And I/we the undersigned do hereby
agree that in the event of the whole or part of the fee
agreed by me/us to be paid to the advocate remaining
unpaid; he shall be entitled to withdraw from the
prosecution of the said case until the same is paid up. The
fee settled is only for the above case and above Court.
I/we hereby agree that once the fee is paid. I/we will not
be entitled for the refund of the same in any case
whatsoever.

Dated the day of July, 2017


Signature of Executant(s)
Received from the executant(s) who is
satisfied as regards the terms above,
and accepted by us subject to terms of
fees, as we hold no brief for the other side.

(DEBESH PANDA) (AMRITA PANDA) (NEIL


CHATTERJEE)

(D-984/2008) (D-3502A/2010) (D-


1058/2016)

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